Alter Ego: His Sultry Lover

"I can't wait to meet you." She sighed. How many more days was it until it was time for their date? She could only wait. They would meet for the first time and? What would they ever do?

Surely, they wouldn't fall on the bed at first. But she wouldn't put it past herself to be unable to keep her hands off the guy once she met him.

"What will we do when we meet for the first time?" she inquired.

"We'll have to see. What do you want to do?" he asked, his voice fresh and simple. His thoughts though were much more impure.

"I would like to do a lot of things with you, but only if you allow it. I wouldn't want you to think that we are rushing into something." She had tried her best to sound as vague as possible that he would misunderstand her meaning, but he still showed no signs of taking the bait.

"And what would that be?" he asked plainly. Finally, years of practicing lines were coming in handy in his personal life and he wouldn't have to reveal just how stimulated he was. He could sound actively participating and his mind not floating away to unknown land this way. It was a chore.

"Let's have our first date out in the grocery store!" She gave up. Her excitement was palpable.

"Ah, I remember how you mentioned that was your favorite place, but I wouldn't want to go out on the first date. It's troublesome for me to go out on a regular basis, in front of a lot of people." Oh, yes. He had mentioned that he was somewhat of a celebrity.

She grumbled.

"Then however are we going to spend our time?"

"Why don't we play the game like we used to in the beginning. Since we started speaking, we have almost stopped playing with each other. I really love to play with you."

Play with you… the words echoed.

'Of course, you like to play with me,' she thought perversely. Then, in a flash, she remembered their first encounter and how her foot in mouth moment had resulted in this relationship of theirs.

Truly, destiny.

She couldn't imagine some other guy reacting in the same way for so long that this connection could be built.

"I would love that," she finally answered. She heard him yawn and smiled to herself.

"Go get some sleep. I will catch up with work and finish off. I'll let you know when the date happens." They bid their goodbyes.

Katherine wondered if he dreamt of her that night. As usual, he did.

- - -

"Where are we going?" Katherine asked as she peeped inside Lily's room. From the look of the clothes Lily was pulling out, it was a posh restaurant or something of the sort.

"It's a niche art gallery at the top of the tallest building in the city where food is served." Katherine made a face at that description. She would have loved to go to this place alone but with a bunch of people whom she had to converse with? Wasn't that taking away from the experience of the place?

"I know what you are talking about and it is a revolutionary idea which I stand by. It's good how they have made the art business more profitable by adding in good local food and a bar to the package. But, why didn't you choose a place better suited for a double date?" Lily gave her a stink-eye.

"You were the one who insisted that it was a meeting of friends and that it was not a double date, and now you are changing your tune? Did you have a fight with Ray?" she poked.

"Not at all. It was a slip of tongue," she retorted with a cheeky look.

"A Freudian slip," Lily countered. The two sniggered when Angelina came into the picture.

"What are the two of you giggling on about?" She seemed irritated because of something and her friends knew not to stimulate her when that was the case.

"What happened?" Lily asked, being the more courageous of the two.

"I hate photographers," Angelina seethed. "Not all, just a lot of them," she grumbled when she saw the glare Lily was giving her. "It's painful being in the industry when part of the photographer population wants you to do outlandish things for their portfolio."

"Weren't you going for a simple test shoot? What happened?" Katherine asked this time. The conversation had begun and she could see that Angelina needed to vent before she started a screaming fit at everyone and anyone who crossed her path. The woman could get really scary if that happened.

"It was a test shoot and I thought I was getting a good deal. This guy is pretty famous and works with loads of professionals. I was honored that he would choose me when he hit me up on Instagram. I fucking bounced my way two hours from the apartment to reach his studio!" She raised her hands over her head in exasperation. She made weird gestures, breathing in and out in intervals to calm herself down.

"Since when are you taking anger management classes? I didn't know!" Lily interjected.

"You better shut up or my training will go to waste," Angelina threatened as she continued to do her little routine.

"Is that why you left at 3 am this morning?" Katherine had been stunned when she saw Angelina awake at that ungodly hour when she went to pee. The other quietly left the room, giving Katherine an apologetic smile for waking her but said nothing else.

"I reached at 5 am and then found out that they wanted me to change into seven outfits for the test shoots!" And she had a right to be exasperated.

"If I am not wrong, test shoots have a maximum of two or three changes, right?" Katherine turned to Lily for confirmation, who nodded.

"You should have said no at that point," Lily said softly, not wanting to enrage Angelina further.